Nigerian distributed utility company, Arnergy, announced it has raised $9 Million in a Series A round of funding led by Breakthrough Energy Ventures with participation from the Norwegian Investment Fund for Developing Countries (Norfund), EDFI ElectriFI and All On.
The company’s distributed renewable energy systems combine solar power, storage solutions and remote management technologies to deliver energy solutions that can help tackle issues related to intermittency and grid unreliability, said the company. Since launch, Arnergy has delivered over 2MW of installed capacity and over 5 MWh of storage capacity to business and residential clients across Nigeria, according to the company.
Arnergy said it will use the funds to develop new business models and partnership opportunities and for consumer financing and channel expansion activities. Targeted verticals for the company’s 5-kW modular systems will include small businesses, healthcare, hospitality, financial services, agribusiness and education, it said.
“Arnergy inherently understands the West African market and its need for power reliability,” said Carmichael Roberts of Breakthrough Energy Ventures. “Creating accessibility to reliable renewable energy sources is paramount to economic growth in this region. With Arnergy’s technology, we can significantly decrease carbon emissions and it’s a model that can be replicated all over the developing world.”
Speaking on the investment, Wiebe Boer, CEO of Shell-funded All On, said, “This is a deal that is particularly exciting to us at All On as a Nigerian impact investor because it reinforces our belief that local energy companies like Arnergy with innovative Nigerian technology and business models can attract investments from global giants like Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Norfund and ElectriFI, and are ready and able to compete on a global stage.”
